Skeletons in the Closet
by BioKraze
Summary: The students of Ohtori Academy claim that the East Dormitory is haunted, but the truth behind the innocuous rumour is far more gruesome...
1. History of Horrors

Shoujo Kakumei Utena_, its concepts and personalities are copyrighted by Be-Papas. I, _BioKraze_, own nothing save the original plot of this fanfiction._

_Author's Note: Yeah, I know. I'm morbid and evil. This, however, is nothing compared to my crowning achievment of ultraviolent fanfiction...but I got stupid and wiped the story. Ah, well. Enjoy!_

Mariko Koyama's corpse was discovered near the front door of the eastern dormitory by another student, as the evening fell upon Ohtori Academy's white buildings. Her body had been gutted, the entrails spread out about the corpse to mimic the image of a rose. The abstract design was the chilling "signature" of the murderer, known to the students and the public only as the "Bloody Rose."

The death of the Student Council's treasurer was the latest in a string of brutal killings. Already the other members had been dispatched in the same violent manner, the gruesome arrangement of their internal organs recognisable as the crest of the great Ohtori Academy. Nobody knew the identity of the Bloody Rose, but there were many that speculated.

The usual suspects had been ruled out, as none of them would have been capable of murder, let alone the level of violence involved. All five bodies had been viciously slashed apart, the deep cuts and gouges calculated to deliver the greatest level and length of suffering while they remained alive. They were always discovered in close proximity to the eastern dormitory, if not within its rooms and hallways.

The murders seemed carefully planned, each victim's remains discovered within a week of one another. It was only after the third victim was discovered - Shigeru Okabe, the vice president of the Student Council - that the student body truly panicked, fearful of their lives. Despite the presence of the local police force and the attempts of the faculty to ease their fears, the students began to institute measures of their own.

They began to travel in groups of four or five, in case the killer attacked. Students kept watches at night, and entire classes moved about as single bodies, monitored by one or more teachers. The deaths of the prominent students was a great shock, but there was a rumor that was even more shocking in its implications.

After almost two months since the first death, the police were unable to identify the Bloody Rose. Yet the simple fact of the location had soon instilled an unquenchable terror within the collective mindset of the student body. The eastern dormitory became infamous for tales of hauntings, as well known as the Nemuro Memorial Hall. It was said by some of the more imaginative teens that the east hall was haunted by the ghosts of the late Student Council members. Very few wandered the east dorm's halls and chambers for two years.

Then nobody - adult or juvenile - dared set foot within the east hall. Slowly, the building fell into disrepair, and dust accumulated upon its silent surfaces for eight whole years. For almost a decade, people feared the legend of the east hall. The Bloody Rose must surely have moved on, but the hideous deaths lingered long in the impressionable minds of the academy's youth.

Then, after ten years of disuse, the eastern dormitory's halls and chambers were inhabited by two young women. One was a popular freshman with pink hair and a rebellious spirit. The other was an enigmatic, mysterious girl who silently tended a sunlit garden of roses whose colours spanned the entire spectrum of light.

Unbeknownst to the students of Ohtori Academy, the infamous killer known as the Bloody Rose had returned for a second round of murder and mayhem. Soon, no person would be safe in the school. The history of horrors would begin to repeat itself once more...


	2. Cleaning Up the Past

I read the letter again. It is the same stationery that I am so familiar with. This letter came directly from the acting chairman, who prefers to be known as "End of the World." What a stupid moniker. I much prefer my alter ego, the Bloody Rose. Thanks to my powers, nobody needs to realise that the harmless weirdo who tends the rose garden was the same soulless killer who murdered an entire group of Duellists for the Revolution.

Yet the wishes of the letter cannot be denied, and so I have found myself backed into a corner. I read the letter again, knowing that I am stalling for time, and hoping that the corpses will prove to be the easiest thing to clear out of that forsaken building...

_As the one engaged, you understand the rules of the Rose Seal. The one engaged must live with the champion of the duel for Revolution. It is expected that you will obey your new master without hesitation, and always with a cheerful and obedient disposition. Do not fail in your task, and the Revolution will come swiftly upon the wings of the phoenix..._

I stared at the letter, hoping that I can burn it to a mere cinder with my hateful glare. Nothing came of it, though, and I realised that I have a bit of housecleaning to attend to. If I am quick enough, my new master will never know that the Rose Bride is the mastermind behind the deaths of six individuals...

"_Kuso..._" I gathered my bags and raced to the closet where I kept the skeletons of the past. Ten minutes later, I am locking the doors to the eastern dormitory from the inside, hoping to stall the new champion from entering before I am done. If memory serves me right, the innocent girl's name was Utena Tenjou. I mouthed a silent prayer to the girl, hoping that she would not have to die as the others would.

Gathering a 40 gallon janitor's drum for my hunt, I started with the kitchen, where I had hidden the body of the first victim, Akinori Shimaoka. The younger brother of the student council president, I bore him no ill will. He was not even a Duellist for the Revolution, but he was the one to make an example of. I had hoped that the council would see reason in my letters to them after the deed, but they refused to do so. I gathered the foetid remnants of the deceased child and dumped them in the large drum.

I moved on to the second body, which I had hidden in the downstairs bathroom. Naohiro Tanikawa, the secretary. His obsession was with art and not time. Perhaps he had the key to Kaoru's "shining thing," but he was also abusive. I made sure he would never strike a woman again. Gathering the body, I disposed of it in the drum and moved upstairs.

The third corpse belonged to Shigeru Okabe, the vice-president of the student council of ten years before. His body was the first successful use of my infamous signature of blood and body parts. I had only to dispose of what the forensic team didn't gather up, and that went into the drum with the others. Moving on, I entered the second storey bathroom. The body of Michiko Shimaoka, council president, lay nude and half shredded in the old tub. I gathered her parts up and threw them into the drum. The last body would be the hardest to recover, and was in the room that would be my home for however long Miss Tenjou would remain the champion of the duels.

Mariko Koyama, council treasurer and campus playgirl. I think my hate extended most to her, as evidenced by the rather brutal treatment of her once beautiful frame. I lifted her still body and dumped it into the 40 gallon janitor's drum. Closing the lid, I heaved a sigh of relief. I began to think of what I would do to clean up the mess I had left over ten years of satisfaction. Should I bother with bleach and disinfectant, or would my powers be best employed for this purpose?

I shrugged. I didn't have much time before Utena showed up, and I still had the drum to destroy before anybody could discover what was inside. I glared at the drum, and it wavered out of existence, becoming a wormeaten bunk. With a few careful movements of my hands, the blood and gore became water stains and cobwebs.

I sighed in relief. It would be child's play to clean this mess up, and nobody would be the wiser. The sooner I could dispose of the newest Duellists, the sooner my intent to foil my dear brother's hopes for Revolution would come to full bloom...


End file.
